Aielli & Benevento

The Italian Wine Merchant (IWM) of New York is one of the best shops to check out when considering vino d’italia.  The store also has a wonderful e.newsletter to enlightens and inspire both regular consumers and connoisseurs alike.  A look at their website also offers a serious listing of Italian ristoranti.  We have taken a look at their suggestions for Piedmont and find them quite satisfactory…Here is a sampling:

Il Cascinalenuovo
 (Asti
)

Highway A21
Exit Asti Est– Main Road

Tel: 011.39.0141.958166
Fax: 011.39.0141.958828

Email: info@ilcascinalenuovo.it Website: www.ilcascinalenuovo.it Il

Cascinalenuovo offers some classic Piemonte dishes, such as: raw meat, handmade ravioli, braised beef etc., as well as some more modern creations. This restaurant and hotel match innovation and tradition to create bold flavors and memorable dishes.

Antica Corona Reale (Cuneo)

Via Fossano, 13
12040 Cervere (CN)

Tel: 011.39.0172.474132
Fax: 011.39.0172.474132

Mentioned in Sergio’s book, Passion on the Vine, this Michelin Star restaurant enlightens you with home cooking-Piedmontese-style, including perhaps the finest rendition of tripe anywhere in the world. Wine options are extensive.

Belevedere 
(La Morra)

Piazza Castello, 5
(CN)

Tel: 011.39.0173.50190
Fax: 011.39.0173.509580
; Email: info@belvederelamorra.it Website: www.belvederelamorra.it

No longer owned by the Bovio family, it is under new management.
Closed Sunday evenings and all day Monday. 
Belvedere is one of the oldest restaurants in Piedmont. It offers typical Piedmontese cuisine; the base ingredients of these dishes are carefully selected and are of the highest quality. When in season the restaurant also offers traditional dishes made with local mushrooms and the white truffles of Alba.

De Guido 
(Stefano Belbo)

Localitia San Maurizio, 39
St

Tel: 011.39.0141.841900
Fax: 011.39.0141.843833
Email: info@relaissanmaurizio.it Website: www.relaissanmaurizio.it

(Part of the Relais San Maurizio hotel, so always open.)

Ristorante Bovio
 (La Morra )

Via Alba, 17 bis
(CN)

Tel: 011.39.0173.590303
Fax: 011.39.0173.590350
Email: info@ristorantebovio.it Website: www.ristorantebovio.it

The Bovio family, one of the oldest families of restaurateurs in Piedmont, has now moved to a new location, in a panoramic position among the vineyards of Barolo. It is an informal but elegant environment, with delightful views of the vineyards and castles of the Langhe, seen through big windows in the dining area.

Trattoria della Posta “da Camulin”
(Monforte d’Alba)

Località Sant’Anna
12065

Tel: 011.39.0173.78120
Fax: 011.39.0173.78120
Email: info@trattoriadellaposta.it Website: www.trattoriadellaposta.it Closed Thursdays and Friday for lunch and for the month of February.

The philosophy underlying Gianfranco Massolino’s cuisine consists of reproducing the great classical recipes of the Langhe and Monferrato territories. Recipes, handed down for generations, keep their own authentic tastes and simplicity. The care for ingredients, such as mushrooms and truffles, is outstanding. Along with Piedmont’s traditional recipes Gianfranco Massolino likes to incorporate international cuisine, especially fish and foie gras.

La Gallina 
(Gavi)

Monterotondo Resort
Frazione Monterotondo, 56
15066 Gavi (AL)

Tel: 011.39.0143.685.132
Fax: 011.39.0143.607.811
Email: info@la-gallina.it Website: www.monterotondoresort.com/gallina/index.htm

La Gallina provides guests with the opportunity to taste the traditional flavors of typical Piemontese cuisine. The chef uses only the freshest of ingredients, obtaining his meat from the surrounding lands and his fish from the neighboring region of Liguria The main dining room provides a rustic, yet refined ambience while the outdoor terrace boasts beautiful panoramic views.

Ristorante Pisterna 
(Acqui Terme)

Via Scatilazzi 15
15011

Tel: 011.39.0144.325114
Email: info@pisterna.it Website: www.pisterna.it Acqui Terme, away from the Barolo area.

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Aielli & Benevento offers the most exciting personal touring experience of great Italian wine estates in Piedmont.  Our clients have at their disposal the most knowledgeable experts in the region. From Alba to Barolo, we’ve developed a customized experience to match any wine enthusiast’s dream trip.

Whisk your way to the center of the region producing the king of Italian red wine: Barolo, just 1–1/2 hours from Milan.  Aielli & Benevento’s professional guides will lead you through world recognized Barolo and Barbaresco vineyards.  Cellar tours, VIP tastings at grand private estates. Gourmet dinners at Michelin rated restaurants, personal shopping and luxury accommodations at Milan’s three best hotels…you choose.  This is the perfect tax deductible trip for the wine industry professional!

************Clients can always pick their date of departure. Just call 212.695.1511 and ask to speak with an Aielli & Benevento travel specialist for a complete list of services/charges…  Or email us for touring details at: info@aiellli-benevento.it .

We also offer special wine tours thru Tuscany, the Veneto and Sicily.

Truffles are a top fall food in Italy and are celebrated with truffle fairs and festivals.

Truffles are found mainly in the regions of Piedmont, Tuscany, Umbria, and Le Marche. During October and November there are many white truffle fairs held in these regions and fall dishes made with the white truffle, tartufo bianco, are plentiful in this part of Italy. What could be more romantic than feasting on a meal made with the sensuous truffle?

Our favorite: The annual White Truffle Festival in Alba (”Fiera del Tartufo Bianco d’Alba” in Italian) that takes place each weekend in October and is the highlight of the white truffle season. The festival features not only the truffles themselves, but also arts and cultural events and spectacles that revolve around the celebration.  Chefs and foodies come from afar for Alba’s festival, where the world’s largest truffle auction and market take place amid a vibrant festival atmosphere. The auction is private, but the white truffle market in Alba is open from 9am-8pm, and sells all sorts of truffle-related goods.

Alba is a small town and hotels, restaurants, and transport get busy on the weekends. Book your trip with Aielli & Benevento to the White Truffle Festival early.  Ask us about A&B’s special wine tours thru Barolo country.

Italian Lakes Serenade is an exceptional touring experience created for a couple or families seeking a special holiday in the less tourist trampled northern Italy. Designed by Aielli & Benevento, this touring experience is tailored 100% to the traveler so there are no fixed departure dates. Clients also choose among a variety of luxury hotel properties.  We handle every trip detail… A week before departure, the client will receive a detailed, daily travel schedule outlining all trip contacts /reservations/ arrangements, ensuring a worry-free, hassle-free travel experience.

What’s included:

• Be guided through Piedmont’s great medieval castles; savor the traditional life of the villages Bellagio and Varenna of surrounding Lake Como.
• Indulge your palate in the best Piemontese cuisine, with a gastronomic adventure of the region’s finest dining establishments in the small towns of Brescia, Mantua and Cremona.
• Enjoy a private shopping experience at the best of Milan’s world-renowned design houses
• Ride the Lake Maggiore Express, a scenic boat and train journey showcasing the regions best vistas
• Excursions to Lake Garda and Verona, take the Treno Blu to Bergamo (see Bergamo Alta)

Private Guides/ Optional Services… customized IPODs, private photographer, personal masseuse.
 Unlike recommendations from hotel concierges (whom invariably pick their friends based on a “business relationship”), we choose excellence.   Aielli & Benevento offers its touring guest a wide range of support services including passport assistance; GSM phone rental, customized IPODs, private photographer, personal masseuse, etc.

> Email us for touring details @ info@aiellli-benevento.it.

With no shortage of views across one of Europe’s most beautiful lakes (Lago di Garda), the “Suite Life” can be truly savored at one of northern Italy’s best hotels: The Villa Feltrinelli .

Painted in gold and terra cotta colors, the Villa is reminiscent of a Venetian palazzo. But it is a classic boutique hotel that once hosted Churchill, DH Lawrence and Mussolini.

For the savvy traveler there’s also  La Limonaia (a private guesthouse) and The Boat House, set along Lake Garda’s shores, with a full kitchen, dining area, living room with fireplace & outdoor patio.

It’s called the Barolo Wars, the contentious debate that pits Traditionalist against Modernist producers of Barolo and has wine experts turning themselves inside out. Lettie Teague, executive wine editor of Food & Wine magazine, wrote an interesting article on the controversy for the September 2007 issue. You can read the article at. In the meantime, here are a few of Lettie’s “Best Barolo Producers.”

Traditionalist:

> Bruno Giacosa: Look for this arch-Traditionalist’s 2001 Falletto for long-term storage. About $150.

> Giacomo Borgogno: A well-established Traditionalist with excellent values. The 1996 Riserva is restrained, structured and an especially good buy. About $60.

Modernist:

> Luciano Sandrone: The acclaimed producer of two Barolos. The Cannubi Boschis is the ne plus ultra of the Modernist style but expensive. If you can find the 1989 expect a price tag around $450.

>Domenico Clerico : A leading Modernist and producer of Ciabot Mentin Ginestra, a well balanced example of a single-vineyard wine. The 2001 is about $85.

(Source: The Splendid Table, 3/22/08)

The perfect Valentine’s gift for every guy is the black beauty shown here. This one happens to be owned by American Idol star Simon Cowell (he bought his own.)  But they made a few others.  The F430 is a sports car to rival all sports cars. Produced by the world’s greatest automaker, Maranello based Ferrari, its production was halted in 2009 after 5 years. The suggested price for a F430– with a top speed of 196 mph— starts at $168,000.  

Ferrari F430 GT2 Specs:
Engine: Custom-built Ferrari F136 V8 engine, 32-valve, 4-valves per cylinder.
Power: 600 hp.  Gearbox: 6 speed.
Width: 1,923 mm (75.7 in).
Height: 1,214 mm (47.8 in).
Minimum weight: 1,100 kg (2,400 lb) (including the driver with overall and helmet).
Fuel Capacity: Approximately 85 liters.

Eataly, the largest artisanal Italian food and wine marketplace in the world, is coming to New York. In the U.S.: Mario Batali and partners Joseph and Lidia Bastianich (B&B Hospitality Group) along with Oscar Farinetti and Luca Bassigo, Eataly’s founders and managing partners, are opening a stateside outpost at 200 Fifth Avenue. At 32,000 square feet, it will be double the size of the Torino original.

This massive culinary bazaar will include a premier retail center for Italian delicacies and wine, a culinary educational center and a diverse slate of boutique eateries. About 80 percent of the products will be imported from Italy. The rest will be produced in the United States under the supervision of Eataly and the non-profit organization Slow Food.

There will be cured meats and cheeses, fruits and vegetables, fresh meats, fresh fish, handmade pasta, desserts, baked goods and coffees. In the planning for each retail area is its own dedicated restaurant, such as a wood-fired pizza and pasta bar, a cheese and salami counter, a beef restaurant, a vegetable restaurant, a crudo and seafood bar, and a classic Italian bar serving gelato, espresso and wine. There will be a separate wine shop, bakery and patisserie. On the roof will be an open-air beer garden with pizza and sausage snacks.

Educational activities will include year-round food and wine courses, demonstrations, and lectures by renowned chefs and food and wine producers from all over the world.

B&B Hospitality Group hopes to open Eataly New York by June. In this economy, we can only hope all their plans are realized.

Wine Spectator just released its 12/15 report identifying the “TOP 100″ wines from around the world.  While an Italian wine failed to take the #1 slot, Italy led all countries with 4 of the top 10 best; no other country was better represented with 19 of 100 best wines of the world. With a focus on vino d’Italia, here’s a brief summary:

Highest Rated Italian Wine:

> Barone Ricasoli Chianti Classico Castello di Brolio ‘06 | WS Rating 96 | Top 100 Rank: #5  | Price $54. US

Best Value (Under $25 per bottle):

> Monte Antico Sangiovese-Merlot-Cabernet Sauvignon Toscana ‘06 |  WS Rating 90 | Top 100 Rank: #61  | Price $12. US

> Brancaia Toscana Tre ‘07 | WS Rating 93 | Top 100 Rank: # 9  | Price $20. US

> Livio Felluga Pinot Grigio Collio  ’08 |  WS Rating 91 | Top 100 Rank: #79 | Price $24. US

> Argiano Toscanao Non Confundtur ‘07 |  WS Rating 91 | Top 100 Rank: #80 | Price $25. US

Top Rated Brunello di Montalcino:

> Poggio Il Castellare Brunello di Montalcino ‘04 |  WS Rating 96 | Top 100 Rank: #11  | Price $50. US

Top Rated Barolo:

> Renato Ratti / Barolo Marcenasco ‘05 | WS Rating 95 | Top 100 Rank: #6  | Price $44. US

Italian producers Among WS Top 10

> Barone Ricasoli Chianti Classico Castello di Brolio ‘06 | WS Rating 96 | Top 100 Rank: #5  | Price $54. US

> Renato Ratti / Barolo Marcenasco ‘05 | WS Rating 95 | Top 100 Rank: #6  | Price $44. US

> Fontodi Colli di Toscano Centrale Flaccianello ‘06  | WS Rating 99 | Top 100 Rank: #8  | Price $110. US

> Brancaia Toscana Tre ‘07 |  WS Rating 93 | Top 100 Rank: #10  | Price $20

Italian producers Among WS Top 50

#11. Poggio Il Castellare Brunello di Montalcino ‘04 |  WS Rating 96 | Top 100 Rank: #11  | Price $20. US

#13. Fattoria di Felsina Toscano Fontalloro’06 | WS Rating 95 | Top 100 Rank: #13  | Price $52. US

#15. Marchesi de ‘Frescobaldi Brunello di Montalcino Castelgiocondo ‘04| WS Rating 95 | Top 100 Rank: #15  | Price $65. US

#16. Uccellieira Brunello di Montalcino ‘04| WS Rating 97 | Top 100 Rank: #16  | Price $65. US

#27. La Massa Toscana Giorgio Primo’07 |  WS Rating 97 | Top 100 Rank: #27  | Price $65. US

#30. Sette Ponti Toscano Cragnolo’07 |  WS Rating 93 | Top 100 Rank: #30  | Price $35. US

#35. Viticcio Chianti Classico Riserva’06 |  WS Rating 93 | Top 100 Rank: #35  | Price $32. US

#37. Petrolo Toscana Torrione’07 |  WS Rating 94 | Top 100 Rank: #37  | Price $40. US

#46. I Greppi Bolgheri Greppicante ‘07 |  WS Rating 92 | Top 100 Rank: #46  | Price $28. US

#49. Tenimenti Luidi d’Allesandro Syrah Cortona Il Bosco ‘06 |  WS Rating 95 | Top 100 Rank: #49  | Price $70. US

Italian producers Among WS Top 100

#61. Monte Antico Sangiovese-Merlot-Cabernet Sauvignon Toscana ‘06 |  WS Rating 90 | Top 100 Rank: #61  | Price $12. US

#79 Livio Felluga Pinot Grigio Collio  ’08 |  WS Rating 91 | Top 100 Rank: #Rank: #81 | Price $90. US

Price $24. US

#80 Argiano Toscanao Non Confundtur ‘07 |  WS Rating 91 | Top 100 Rank: #80 | Price $25. US

#81 Paolo Scavino Barolo Crobric ‘05 |  WS Rating 95 | Top 100

All in all Italian wines presented themselves well: 2 Chianti Classico; 3 Brunellos; 2 Barolos and 11 Super Tuscans/Other…1 Pinot Grigio.

Barolo and Barbaresco are two powerful, dry red wines from the Piedmont region in Northwest Italy. Both wines are made 100 percent from an unusual red grape variety, Nebbiolo.  Due to the unique climate and soil in the Langhe foothills of the Alps in southeast Piedmont, Nebbiolo thrives there. Nebbiolo only grows well in Piedmont and in a small zone in neighboring Lombardy (the Valtellina). All other attempts to grow Nebbiolo around the world have been unsuccessful. The secret of Nebbiolo’s success in the Langhe region is at least partially due to its climate; the area typically has a long, mild fall, when the vineyards are often covered with the nebbia (fog). The very slow ripening Nebbiolo grapes need extra-long hang time to fully ripen, with the harvest usually taking place in mid- or late October, sometimes even November! The soil in the Langhe foothills has also proven to be remarkably suitable for Nebbiolo.

Both Barolo and Barbaresco are also unusual red wines because they have both lots of tannin and acidity. These wines benefit from both aeration and decanting, which helps to soften their awesome tannins. They are often not at an optimal drinking stage until at least eight or ten years after the vintage, and occasionally need even more time in great vintages. They are difficult to appreciate when consumed on their own, but improve remarkably when accompanied with food.

Both wines have been granted the highest appellation for Italian wines: DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllada e Garantita), which translates as “controlled and guaranteed place name.” More importantly, both Barolo and Barbaresco, along with Brunello di Montalcino and a few Super Tuscan wines, such as Sassicaia and Ornellaia, are considered by wine critics as the finest wines of Italy and among the great red wines in the world.

Differences between Barolo and Barbaresco: The two wines have far more attributes in common than differences. Only the most experienced tasters can distinguish between the two_and then not on every occasion. Barolo tends to be slightly fuller-bodied than Barbaresco, and usually needs a couple of years more to develop_but exceptions abound, depending upon the producer. Barbaresco, on the other hand, with fewer producers, is generally more consistently fine, without the “highs” and “lows” in quality you can find among Barolo producers.

The growing regions for the two wines are very close: the Barbaresco zone lies just northeast of the town of Alba, and consists of three villages: Barbaresco, Neive and Treiso. The Barolo zone lies directly south of Alba, about 10 miles from Barbaresco. Although 11 villages make up the Barolo zone, five are important: La Morra, Barolo, Serralunga d’Alba, Monforte d’Alba and Castiglione Falletto.

Barolo is required to be aged a minimum of three years, Barbaresco a minimum of two years, before being released by the winery. Production of both wines is quite small: about 2.5 million bottles of Barbaresco are produced annually, about 35 percent of Barolo’s 7 million plus. Compare this to Bordeaux, which produces about 660 million bottles per year!

Traditional versus Modern Styles: Just as in other wine regions, changes in technology and winemaking techniques have occurred in Piedmont. Winemakers such as Angelo Gaja and Elio Altare introduced new techniques such as shorter fermentation of the must and aging the wine in barriques (small French barrels). Traditionally minded producers, such as Giacomo Conterno and Bartolo Mascarello, continued to produce Barolos in basically the same way their fathers and grandfathers made the wine, while many other producers have combined modern and traditional methods. Although some consumers may favor one style more than the other, the good producers are making good wines no matter what winemaking method they employ.

Serving Temperature: Both Barolos and Barbarescos are at their best when they are served slightly cool, about 62° to 64° F. Large, wide-mouthed glasses, such as those used for red Burgundy, are best for both wines.

Food Pairings: Both Barolo and Barbaresco are excellent with beef, especially when braised in red wine. Roast pork, rabbit, venison, game birds and aged hard cheeses are also very good accompaniments with these wines.

At  this point, just about all 1996 Barolos and Barbarescos have disappeared from the market; you might find a few selections on some wine lists in the better Italian restaurants. You can still buy quite a few 1999s, however; one of the fortunate consequences of the 2000 vintage receiving so much attention is that many consumers purchased the 2000s and ignored the ’99s.

Source: Ed McCarthy/  http://www.winereviewonline.com/barolo_barbaresco.cfm